LT Sound7980 LT ParkwayLithonia, GA 30058(770)482-4836

Dear Customer:Thank you for purchasing a Thompson Vocal EliminatorTM Model VE-4. We sincerely hope

that you will receive years of enjoyment with this remarkable device.Remember that the Vocal EliminatorTM is unlike any other stereo component you have ever

owned. Take time to familiarize yourself with the operating instructions. Should you need fur-ther assistance, we have a HELP LINE which you may call as late as 7 PM (EST) mostevenings Monday through Thursday and Saturday from 1 PM to 5 PM (EST). We encouragethe use of this service especially on weekends when the long distance rates are lower.HELP LINE NUMBER: (770)482-4836Always call with your unit connected and near the phone so that we may interactively work

with you and be able to hear the results you are obtaining as we proceed.From time to time customers send us tapes they have prepared with their units. We look

forward to receiving such tapes and will be glad to offer any hints or suggestions for obtainingthe best possible results.

Sincerely,

Lacy Thompson, Jr.President

Vocal Eliminator™ Test CD or TapeIMPORTANT: This is the First recording you should

use on your Vocal EliminatorTM.It is important that you be able to obtain almost complete (90-95%) elimination of the lead vocal on

this recording before moving on to other recordings. If you do not get proper results on this recording,you will not get proper results on any other recordings. They are not examples of the average resultbut some of the very best results possible. Average results will have more of a trace of the vocal in thebackground.

Use this CD or tape in the initial set-up of your Vocal EliminatorTM. You should get results compa-rable to the first selections on the demo which you were sent prior to purchase. If you do not get com-parable results, this indicates either improper hookup, inadequate or misaligned tape equipment, orpossibly a combination of these faults. Call the Help Line at (770)482-4836 till 7 p.m. EST if you haveproblems.

Proper results on this recording verifies that your equipment is not introducing any problemswhich could limit the results. Results will still vary depending on the recording used as depict-ed in the demo tape.

Congratulations, you have just pur-chased what will prove to be the mostenjoyable part of your stereo system!Whether you intend to use your VocalEliminatorTM in a professional context orsimply for your own personal enjoyment,we are sure you will find it’s use habitforming and that it will give you years oftrouble free performance.Our Goal Is To Exceed YourExpectations.

As a general rule, we have found that ourproducts do a remarkably consistent job ofexceeding our customers expectations.This is not to say that there is not some“learning curve” where the customer’sresults tend to improve and their satisfac-tion with the product increases accordingly.

We like to hear from customers when weexceed their expectations. It is also evenmore critical that we hear from you if thereare any areas where we fail to exceed orat a minimum meet your expectations.This helps insure that our engineeringstaff is focusing on the areas of perfor-mance most critical to our customers.

Please let us know how good of a job weare doing in this crucial area!Ease of Use

The VE4 is both the most sophisticatedVocal EliminatorTM ever made as well asthe easiest to use. Don’t worry aboutunderstanding everything before begin-ning to use your VE4. Do however readthe notes on microphone technique as itis crucial to getting the best vocal soundand avoiding feedback.Upgradeable Design

Your VE-4 incorporates the latest devel-opments in digital signal processing.What’s even more important, is that atLT Sound, we are constantly working to

insure that we provide the very best VocalEliminationTM, vocal enhancement andkey change performance possible. Yourunit is the state of the art today and it isstate of the art tomorrow as well.

Your VE-4 has beyond CD quality 20 bitA/D and D/A converters and 32 bit DSPprocessing with a SHARC DSP processor.It’s advanced Auto Vocal TracTM circuitsmake it capable of automatically adjustingfor the best vocal elimination available onall of your stereo sources from tape, record,compact disc, FM broadcast, and videotapeto name a few. Because it is a digital unitwith a computer program which runs itsfunctions, you will be able to upgrade theperformance of your unit as improvementsare made in our vocal elimination algo-rithms. Your unit is also capable of receivingadditional programs for other functionswhich may be developed in the future tosupplement your Vocal EliminatorTM.True Studio Quality Voice Enhancement

Unlike consumer or even “professional”karaoke equipment, your VE-4 isequipped with a full complement of vocalprocessing functions including Equali-zation, Echo and Reverb, Dynamic RangeLimiting and Compression, Expansion,Exciter and DeEssing functions.

Essentially anything and everything thatcan be done to enhance the human voicefor recording and performance.Does Everything Karaoke Does Better.Your VE-4 is also equipped to work with

pre-recorded background music and hasa mode selector to mix the backgroundmusic as unmodified stereo or the VocalEliminatorTM output. You can also mix pre-recorded stereo backgrounds fromKaraoke sources or recordings you makewith the Vocal Eliminatior.TM

VE-4 Owner’s ManualThompson Vocal Eliminator ™

1

2

Studio Quality Key Transposer WithMore Range and Fine Tune Capability.

Your VE-4 has a total range of a fulloctave - one half octave up and one halfoctave down which allows you to place thesong in any key. This is over twice therange of most karaoke key transposers.Our step increments are in quarter toneincrements allowing finer adjustment of thekey to your vocal range.Technical Support and Help Line.

The Vocal EliminatorTM goes into mostsystems without a single problem occur-ring along the way. Following this manual

in the order it is presented, will prevent mostproblems and confusion. If you are still unableto correct the problem, be sure to call ourHELP LINE at (770) 482-4836.

We are able to provide technical assistanceon most Monday through Thursdays as lateas 7 pm EST and are available mostSaturdays from l pm until 5 pm as well. If youdon’t reach a technician directly, leave a mes-sage and someone will return your call. Youwill find the instructions quite complete, but ifa problem develops, we don’t want you to getneedlessly frustrated. We are capable of solv-ing most complications over the phone in ashort amount of time.

Choosing the Proper Connection Diagram.

The first thing to do is to choose the properconnection diagram for your particular sys-tem. There are two basic ways to connect theVocal EliminatorTM to your system.If you have a True Component system wherethe amplifier is separate from the tape deck,you will also have a “tape monitor” switch itmay not say “Tape Monitor”, it may only belabeled TAPE or VCR. If you can select asource such as FM and press TAPE or VCRand the FM stays selected, you are indeedmonitoring. For this type of system, you useConnection Diagram 1. If your turntable ortape deck is built into your amplifier and youdo not have a “tape monitor” switch, whichmay also be labeled Tape-Source, then youshould use Connection Diagram 2.

CONNECTION DIAGRAM 1.If your system has a tape monitor switch, you

should use Connection Diagram 1. Beabsolutely sure that you follow the diagramexactly as shown. If you have a tape deck cur-rently connected to the RECORD OUT jacks,then you will have to disconnect it in order toconnect the Vocal Eliminator to your system.For now, follow the diagram explicitly and besure not to reverse the connections going fromthe Vocal EliminatorTM back to the receiver.CONNECTION DIAGRAM 2.If you have a system where the tape deck isbuilt into the amplifier, you must use connec-tion diagram 2. You will use the recorder builtinto the amplifier for recording and a separatetape deck for playing the original recording if youwant to work from tape.

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The VE4 is Designed For Very CloseMicrophone Technique.

We have a whole philosophy behind theVE4 and getting the best results are depen-dent upon understanding and followingthese techniques.

If a microphone is held as shown in thepicture below actually touching the cornerof the singer’s mouth, there are Numerousand Significant benefits to be achieved

1) No “Breath Noises” Absolutely no “P”or “T” breath noises are picked up.2)Singer Is More “Visible” In performance,the singer’s face and mouth are obstructedfrom view only minimally.

3) Freedom From Feedback. Significantlyless mic gain is required resulting in a great-ly reduced risk of mic squeal or feedback.4) Improved Signal To Noise Ratio. For

recording, the improvements are twofold.1) Higher Signal Level means a higher sig-nal relative to any electronic noise. 2) Moresignificantly, even “quiet” rooms for record-ing aren’t all that quiet. Crank up the micgain and you will be astonished to hear thatwhat dominates the noise floor is not elec-tronic noise, but the fans in electronicequipment, and room air conditioner nois-es. This greatly decreases the pickup ofextraneous room noises.

Normally a microphone held this closeproduces far too much bass sound.However, the excess bass can be totallyeliminated if the mic pre-amps are designedtaking into account the increased bass.This has been done on the VE-4. Indeed ifyou do not use the very close mic tech-nique the system is designed for the soundwill be excessively “bright” and “thin”sounding.

This is the key to getting true state of theart sounding vocals both in performanceand in your recordings.

Proper Microphone Technique For The Vocal EliminatorTM

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P+ Indicates Phantom Power OnP- Indicates Phantom Power Off(Accessed through Setup Menu)

Amount of Key Change

R - Indicates Reverb Always OnA - Indicates Auto-Effects - Reverb When Music Present.Blank - Indicates Reverb Always Off

The Middle of the Top Line Tells You ifYou are In the Elimination Mode or Listening

to The Original Version

VALUE - UP / DOWN Buttons In MainWindow Sets the Depth of Vocal Elimination

MENU Change - In Main WindowChanges the Type of EliminationChosen or the “Algorithm”

INPUT MENU - Allows Selection Of Main, Tape, Optical orDig-IN CoAxial Inputs - Simply Press appropriate NumberButton of The Input You Wish To Select

11 Select Input

Pushing The VE Button Toggles BetweenVocal Eliminate and Original Music.

22 Select VE - Vocal Eliminate

Left / Right Buttons Select VocalEliminate With or Without Mic on Output

UP ButtonIncreasesAmount ofElimination,Down ButtonDecreasesElimination -may ImproveInstruments.

KEY+ Raises The Key, KEY- Lowers the Key 33 Adjust KEY

44 Sing!

Quick and Easy VE4 Operation Primer

Main ScreenYou MUST Understand This Screen. The Display Automatically Returns

To the Main Screen After a Few Seconds If No Buttons Are Pressed

NOTE: Like many other pieces of High Tech equipment, the VE-4 does not have an actual “Off”switch. Rather it automatically goes into a standby or “Sleep Mode” if no buttons are pressed and themicrophone is inactive for a period of time which you can set as anything from 5 minutes to an houror on all the time. The VE-4 automatically “Wakes Up” if you sing into the mic or touch the buttons.

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INPUT Selected:MAIN,Tape,OPTical,or DIGital Volume Level

100% Is Normal Level

Raise or Lower OverallVolume Level

AutoMix Menu - Pulls Up The Following MenusMIC / BACKGROUND Balance

VE4 Menus and Functions

Raise or Lower Key of Music

INPUT MENU - Allows Selection Of Main, Tape, Opticalor DigIn-coaxial Inputs - Simply Press appropriateNumber of The Input You Wish To Select

AutoEnhance Menu - Pulls Up The Following MenusMIC EQ Lo 220 Boost / CutMIC EQ Lo Mid 700 Boost / CutMIC EQ Mid 1.6K Boost / CutMIC EQ Hi Mid 3.5K Boost / CutMIC EQ Hi Shelf Boost / CutDeEss LevelComp LevelComp Ratio Expand Threshold

Toggles Vocal Elimination ON or OFFVE Menu - Pressing and Holding Pulls Up The Following Menus

AUTO-EDIT Threshold Sets Sensitivity of Mic for Auto-EditingBACKGROUND REVERB For adjustment of the level of reverbadded to the background music

Toggles REVERB between three modes indicatedon Main Display above R , Blank-Off, A Auto AutoEff Menu -Pressing and Holding Pulls UpThe Following Menus

REVERB LEVEL for Vocal ReverbREVERB DECAY LOW - How Long Lows LastREVERB DECAY HI How Long Highs Last.

The key point to remember is that 99% ofthe time you are not having to modify anyof the VE4’s automatic settings. Normaloperation is as simple and intuitive as1)Select your input source. 2) Hit the VEButton, 3)Adjust the Key, and 4)Sing!

Use the VE4 this way first, then if you, forexample, want more or less reverb than thedefaults, use this sheet to access the para-meter you need to adjust.

Don’t think you need to understand thisbefore using the VE-4! You don’t!

MODE Menu - Allows you to recall your stored settingsfor six Distinct Environments Performance, Practice,Recording, Karaoke (NoVocal Elimination),GuideVocal,and Vocal Capture for Digital Vocal Only Output.

STORE Current Settings

SetUp Menu - Pulls Up The Following MenusMIC LEVEL INDICATOR For adjustment of

Gain Knob on The Back of The VE4 PHANTOM POWER - On or OffAUTOCLIP DISPLAY - On or OffSLEEP TIMERBACKLIGHT LEVEL

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UP/DOWN ButtonsIn the Main Menu (which the VE4 automat-

ically returns to) the UP/DOWN buttonsadjust the sensitivity of the VE-4’s automaticdetection of the presence of the original vocalwhich in turn varies the depth of vocal elimi-nation. UP adjusts the sensitivity detectingthe vocal and DOWN decreases the sensitiv-ity, which can result in even less impact uponthe background instruments and many timesat little or no cost to the vocal elimination.Singing Live or Making a BackgroundTape - Auto Edit No Vocal.In the Main Menu Screen the Left / Right but-

tons select between Vocal Eliminate With Micand Vocal Eliminate Without Mic or what werefer to as the “Auto-Edit” mode. To have theleast impact possible on the backgroundmusic, use the down arrows to get less vocalelimination. When you sing, your voice will bepicked up and trigger the maximum vocalelimination, but only in the parts where you aresinging. This allows the best of both worlds, theleast impact possible on the background andthe deepest elimination during the vocal parts.

As long as you are singing anything, yourvoice should engage the deepest elimination.Be a bit early if you have to to insure pickupat the beginning and a bit late to insure theelimination stays engaged. It won’t matterwhether you sing or hum, are on key or offkey. The volume of your voice is whatengages the deeper elimination.

Be careful to evaluate your results onlywhen you are actually singing over thebackgrounds. Though you can tell a big dif-ference between those that eliminate almostcompletely and those that eliminate an aver-age amount (85% of original vocal eliminat-ed) without someone singing a new vocalpart, you usually can tell no difference what-soever once a new vocal is added. Youshould completely cover the old voice. Hereis the amount of elimination you shouldexpect based upon the sales brochure:Normally you can use the better half of your

material in a professional context. By thesame token, you should expect that theother half will come out not to be goodenough to use in a professional context,though it may be adequate for practice.

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Vocal Elimination With or Without Your Mic Being Added Selected by adjusting the LEFT / RIGHT Buttons.This allows you to sing while you make a background tape without your voice appearing on the tape. Yoursinging engages the deepest form of vocal elimination only when you are actually singing.

Vocal EliminationDepth - UP /DOWN Buttons InMain WindowSets the Depth ofVocal Elimination

Vocal Elimination Depth

VE Toggles between Vocal Eliminate andOriginal Signals.VE-SubMenu Holding the VE button pullsup the VE Menu with the following sub-menusAuto-Edit Threshold Adjusts the micmicrophone detection level that causes theVE4 to go into the eliminate mode whenusing the Auto-Edit Vocal EliminatorAlgorithms.Background Reverb We have found thatmost recordings sound best when a smallamount of additional reverb is added to thevocal eliminated backgrounds. This actuallymakes any traces of the original vocal whichmight remain less noticeable. You can adjustthe amount that is added with this control. AutoMix Menu AutoMix This control alters the mixing tar-gets for the Mic and Background. Centered istypical. If you favor a stronger vocal mix thenmove the setting to the left. For more back-ground music relative to the voice move tothe right. The automix function is working allthe time, you are just altering the targets. AutoEn Menu (AutoEnhancement)

Microphone EqualiationMIC Lo 220 This controls the very lowest fre-quencies of the vocal range centered at 220 Hz.MIC Lo Mid 700 This controls the verylow midrange frequencies of the vocalrange centered at 700 Hertz. MIC Mid 1.6K This controls the centermidrange frequencies of the vocal rangecentered at 1,600 Hertz.

MIC Hi Mid 3.5K This controls the highmidrange frequencies of the vocal rangecentered at 3.5 KHertz. MIC Hi EQ Shelf This controls the very-highest frequencies of the vocal rangeabove 5KHertz.De-Ess This reduces the high frequecyportions of the voice when Sssss frequen-cies are present.COMP LEVEL This controls the maximumcompression on the voice. A compressorraises the volume of softer vocal sounds andkeeps the louder vocal sounds from gettingtoo loud. This control is typically left near thecenter of the range. When you are recordingusing headphones (to avoid speaker leakageand feedback) you may want to increase it to+2 or +3. (the factory default is +2) In per-formance you may want to back off a bit (fac-tory default is -1 for Performance Mode) par-ticularly if you encounter feedback.COMP Ratio 1.0 means there is NO com-pression. Higher numbers indicate higheramounts of compression. For Example a2.0 ratio which is the factor default meansthat if you are 10 db below the PeakVolume level going in, the gain will beincreased by 5dB. Expand Thresh The expander decreases thevolume of the mic when there is no signal pre-sent. This gives you a quieter noise floor forrecording and gives you some improvementin freedom from feedback. Typical factordefault is 0 in all modes. Adjusting the con-trol to the right cuts out louder sounds, to theleft lets softer sounds through the expander.

VE-4 Buttons, Menus and FunctionsNote: As a Matter of General Philosophy The Average Use Setting is Right In The Middle of the

Control Range. Exceptions are The Volume Which is Normally at 100% These Controls Allow You ToFine Tune Your VE-4. It is Not Necessary To Adjust Them In Order To Use Your Unit.

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AutoEff Menu Reverb Mode This control has threechoices selectable with the up/down but-tons; 1)R Always ON , 2) A Auto-Effects -Reverb is on when music is playing, offwhen music is not present 3) Reverb OFFMain Screen shows neither A nor R but isblank in that location. When you aresinging in performance, you typically willplace the unit in AutoEffects so you canspeak between songs and not have reverbon your voice. Reverb Level This control adjusts the levelof the reverb on your vocal. It does notaffect the reverb level on the backgroundmusic. That is controlled in the VE Menu. Reverb Low Decay This control deter-mines the apparent size of the room. To theright produces much longer decays and tothe left produces shorter decay times. Donot use this to adjust the amount of thereverb. The amount should be adjustedwith the Reverb Level Control. Reverb High Decay This control adjuststhe brightness of the reverb by altering howfast the high frequencies die away

MODE This control allows you to selectbetween six presets; Performance, Practice,Recording, Karaoke(for using Karaoke Backgroundsyou already own with a video screen), Guide Vocal,and Vocal Capture - Digital Voice Only capturewhen doing multi-track recording.

Differences Between ModesThe factory presets are a good starting

point. You can feel free to alter them to suityour individual preferences. Independent

setting for EQ, Compression, Expansion,De-Essing, Reverb Levels, Reverb DecayTimes and AutoMix Levels are stored foreach mode setting (Provided you Storethem by hitting the “Store” key and con-firming with the “UP” arrow). In addition“Global” settings which are the sameregardless of the Mode are also stored. TheGlobal settings are for VOLUMELEVEL,INPUT SELECTION, PHANTOM-ON/OFF, BACKLIGHT LEVEL, SLEEPTIMER.Performance Mode has a reasonable amountof compression to help you keep your volumemixed properly as well as reverb. In a perfor-mance setting there are tradeoffs betweensucceptibility to feedback that limit how muchcompression you can add.Practice Mode pulls back a bit on the

reverb so you can more carefully scrutinizeyour vocal performance. Otherwise it isquite similar to the Performance setting. Recording Mode - In general when you are

recording, you should monitor with head-phones and have your speakers turned off.This allows you to use much moreCompression and Higher CompressionRatios. If your speakers were turned on, youwould most likely get a squeal or feedback.

Karaoke Mode is when you are usingkaraoke backgrounds and want to monitorthe words on a screen. In the other modesthere is a slight time difference betweenwhen the words appear and the sound. Thismode insures that both are in sync.Guide Vocal Mode is the newest addition tothe modes. When you are in this mode theMain Output mix has the original singereven if the elimination engaged. This allows

VE-4 Menus and Functions

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you to hear both your voice and the origi-nal singer’s voice when you are performingor practicing. If the Eliminator is engaged,all the other mixes at the Record Out, AuxOut, Optical Out and Dig-Out or Coax out-puts have the Eliminate version along withyour vocal. This allows you to send one ofthese to your recorder or performance PAwhile your mix from the Main Outputsalways has the original singer present. Vocal Capture Mode is primarily intended

for using the digital outputs into a soundcard with a digital input or a digitalMultiTrack recorder. The digital outputscontain ONLY the EQ’d, Compressed,Expanded signal without any reverb and atthe Maximum output recording level. If youdo not need this mode you can use it as anextra storage space for whatever you wish.

SetUp MenuMIC LEVEL This displays the peak level ofthe microphone signal so you can makeadjustments to the GAIN control on theback of the VE4. Typically you will be -9 to-6 on moderately loud passages. AutoCLIP DISPLAY If ON this displaysthe level whenever the mic clips regardlessof what menu you may be in. This insures

that any improperly loud mic setting willnot likely go un-noticed. You can turn thisOFF if you do not want to be promptedautomatically if the mic level clips. This is avery sensitive monitor and any clippinghowever brief will be detected.SLEEP TIMER The VE4 does not have anOFF switch. Instead it automatically goesinto a “Standby” mode if no buttons arepressed or the microphone is not used for apreset period. The unit automatically“Wakes Up” if the microphone is used or itsbuttons are pressed. You can set the timeanywhere from 5, 10, 20, 40 minutes, 1Hour or “Always On”. In the Store Menuyou can configure the VE4 to always saveyour current settings before going to“sleep” if you so desire. BackLight Level This allows you to adjustthe level of the backlight on the VE-4’s LCDdisplay. STORE Menu This control allows you tosave or recall settings. STORE Config This control allows you toSave “Manually” which means only whenyou tell the VE-4 to save or when youanswer yes to a store prompt. You can alsotell the VE-4 to save “Automatically” whenit enters sleep mode in addition.

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How Do I Hear My Microphone?First of all adjust your volume playing music so

it is at a good volume level and engage the VEVocal Eliminate funciton to be sure you hear thevocal elimination over your speakers. Withoutchanging any volume settings, stop the music.1)Be sure the microphone is plugged into theVE4. 2)Press the VE button-If it says “ELIMI-NATE-NoMic” press the LEFT arrow and itshould change to “ELIMINATE- w/Mic”.3)Be Sure you have the VE4’s Mic Gain con-trol on the back pannel turned up. If in doubtput it all the way to 40 dB gain 4)If yourmicrophone has an on/off switch-Be sure it isON. 5)If you are using a wireless microphone,be sure that it has good batteries and that it isswitched on.How Do I Get More Vocal Elimination?The Up/Down arrows in the main menu pro-

duce deeper vocal elimination when adjustedto higher numbers. 0 is the default producingthe best overall result for most material.Decreasing below 0 allows you to preservemore of the background music frequentlywith almost no reduction in vocal elimination. How Do I Minimize Loss ofInstruments In The Background?

The Down Arrow minimizes the impact on thebackground instruments. There may be a smallamount of reduction in the vocal elimination.

In addtion you can reduce the elimination to-10 which means there will be NO VocalElimination except when you sing into themic. To make a background without yourvoice and still using this feature, you simplypress the Right Arrow and it will kill the micro-phone from the mix, yet still pick it up and trig-ger the vocal elimination when you sing. How Do I Avoid Mic Squeal or Feedback?

Feedback occurs when the gain on the micis too high for the speaker volume. The verybest way to avoid feedback is to be sure youare holding the microphone so close it actu-ally touches the corner of your mouth.

If you still are having difficulty, you may wantto back off on the COMP Level settings in theAutoEn Menu, as well as the MIC EQ Level.How Do I Turn Off the Reverb On MyVoice?

There are three modes for the reverb.1)R=Always On 2)A=AutoEffects which is auto-matically ON when music is present and OFF

when music is not present and 3)Always Off orBlank on the main menu. You can set this con-trol different with the Presets for Performance,Recording, and Practice and they will automati-cally be recalled when you change modes. How Do I Change the Amount ofReverb on My Voice?

This is done with the Reverb Level control inthe AutoEff Menu. Lower settings producesless reverb and higher settings produce morereverb. Be sure to store the settings once youare happy with the levels. How Do I Alter the Proportion ofVoice to Music?

This is accomplished in the AutoMix Menu.Moving the setting to the left increases thevoice and decreases the background, movingit to the right gives you more music and lessvoice. You are actually altering the AutomixTargets that the VE-4 is automatically mixing to.How Do I Make My Voice Less BrightSounding or More Bright?

This is accomplished with the MIC EQ set-tings in the AutoEn Menu. You have controlover the voice equalization in five freqencyareas. The plus setting increase or boost thevolume in the frequency range and the - orcut settings decrease the volume.How Do I Know The Mic Gain Control Onthe Back of the VE-4 Is Set Correctly?

Sing into the microphone at the loudest vol-ume you normally sing while you turn up theGAIN Knob on the back of the VE-4. At somepoint the display should pop up with thescreen “CLIP” and then “Adjust Mic Gain”should display the incoming mic level forabout the next 20 seconds or so to enable youto make adjustments to the pot. Back off justa bit from the point at which it clips on theloudest sections when you sing. Typicallyduring most of the song it will be down around-9 to -6. Don’t worry too much if you arehave the gain set properly and you occasion-ally get a CLIP indication. The VE4 has avery benign soft clipping characteristic whichwill not be audible until the CLIP is being trig-gered 20% of the time or more.

If you want to turn off the feature of auto-matically displaying clipping, you can do soin the SetUp Menu.

Answers to Typical Questions

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1)Determine If You Are Actually Listening Tothe Vocal Eliminator Or To The OriginalSignal.

The first thing to do is to be sure you canchange the volume of the music with theVOLUME control on the Vocal Eliminator. Ifyou can’t, you are not listening to the VocalEliminatorTM but to the original signal. Be sureyou are connected to the TAPE jacks on yourreceiver (TAPE 2 or VCR if you have a TAPE1 and 2) and that you have the TAPE buttonIN or are in the “monitor” position. If you dohear the volume change, but are getting noelimination whatsoever on the TEST TAPElisten to your left and right speakers individu-ally to see if you indeed have two inputs goinginto the eliminator. If one of the speakers isdead, you have a bad cable either at one ofthe sources or the input to the VocalEliminator or one of the wires is connected tothe wrong place. Check the diagrams careful-

ly. Switch cables with a new good cable untilyou get sound out of both speakers in theSTEREO mode. You must be in the STEREOmode for this test to work and when you fixthe bad or misconnected cable, you shouldhave elimination. If you are still having prob-lems, call the HELP LINE and we will be gladto assist you in locating the problem.

2) If You Can Change The Volume On TheVocal Eliminator, But are Getting No VocalElimaintion At All.Be sure the VE button is engaged and lit and

the display should say “Primary VE”.1)Hit the up arrow to be sure the vocal elim-

ination depth is not too low. The middle posi-tion of “0” or “+1” should be fine.

2) Do a “Forced Tune” by Pressing andHolding the INPUT button. If you do not hearthe vocal drop within a three or four seconds,then this is not the problem.

Troubleshooter ChecklistFirst of all, use either the Test Tape or the Test CD which came with your VE4 to gothrough the following checklist. As long as the Test Tape and the Test CD produce 90%or better vocal elimination, then any variances would be due to the material used.

If You Are Getting Absolutely No Vocal Elimination Whatsoever.

Use the Test CD or Test Tape See If YouCan Produce 90% or Better Elimination.

If the Test Tape or Test CD do not producealmost total elimination, then none of yourother recordings will work properly. If you doproduce the proper amount of elimination,then this verifies the VE4 is connected prop-erly and the elimination differences are dueto the source material. The Test CD and Test Tape are not exam-

ples of what you should expect on average.They are examples which are among thebest results that enable us to verify that theunit is connected properly and that the com-ponents used are of sufficient quality to pro-duce the proper results.

The pre-sales demo shows a range ofresults best, average, and less than average.On the average result you will hear a trace ofthe vocal in the background which should becompletely inaudible when you sing, which isthe only way anyone else will ever hear it. Besure you are judging the result with your new

vocal added at the proper volume level. Adjust the Vocal Elimination Depth.

Use the UP/DOWN arrows to adjust thedepth of elimination. 0 is the default. Highernumbers will produce more Vocal Elminationat some cost to backgound music quality sobe careful!The reality is that once about 75-80% elimi-

nation is achieved, you should hear absolutelyno vocal when your voice is added to the mix.This is the Only Way anyone else is going tohear the end result. As such make your judg-ments on how deep to engage the eliminationdepth only with your new vocal added.After you have used the VE4 more, you will

likely back off a bit on the VE Depth to cap-ture the background with the least amount ofinstrumental loss possible.

Average elimination is 85% which meansthat 15% of the voice will still be audible onthe background. You should hear absolutelynone of the original singer when your voice isadded during recording or performance.

If You Are Getting Some Vocal Elimination

13

LT Sound WarrantyFive Years Parts and Labor

Your LT Sound product is warranted for Five Full Years from the date of purchase.Problems with our products are extremely rare. Many things that appear to be unit mal-functions, are in reality related to a change in hookup or sometimes a customer simplychanges some buttons on the receiver and apparently the unit no longer works. Since over90% of these types of “unit malfunctions” are not really the unit at all, we insist that a RepairAuthorization be given by one of our technicians on all products which are accepted backfor repair, . This solves most problems in the quickest manner over the phone and preventscustomers and ourselves from unnecessary shipping expenses and down time. If you feelyou have a problem, please call our help line and if the symptoms do indeed point to a prob-lem within the unit, we will promptly give you a Repair Authorization and will rectify theproblem as quickly as possible. Sorry, But Any Unauthorized Returns Will Be Refused.We believe experience has shown this to work in the best interests of both you, our customer,and ourselves.

When Calling the Help-line Line.....1. Be sure you are at a phone which will reach the equipment. We need to be able to hear

the results you are getting and ask you questions about your stereo system. This is very diffi-cult if you cannot be directly at the equipment while we are talking.

2. Be sure you have the TEST TAPE on so we can work with material which we know shouldproduce extremely good elimination.

Help Line hours are till 7 p.m. EST, Monday - Wednesday that is 4 p.m. California time.Help line assistance also available 1pm-5pm most non-holiday weekend Saturdays.

Help Line Number (770)482-4836

Caution !Never Connect Both the Digital IN and Digital

Output of THE SAME Device to the VE-4 at theSame Time! Doing So Can Damage Your VE4and It Will Have To Be Returned to the Factory

for Repair! Connect One or the Other at aTime Never Both at the Same Time!

Caution !Never Connect Both the Digital IN and Digital

Output of THE SAME Device to the VE-4 at theSame Time! Doing So Can Damage Your VE4and It Will Have To Be Returned to the Factory

for Repair! Connect One or the Other at aTime Never Both at the Same Time!

230 Volt Customers !Use Both the 230/115 VoltConverter and the LT SoundPower Pack when Connecting

To 230 Volts

230 Volt Customers !Use Both the 230/115 VoltConverter and the LT SoundPower Pack when Connecting

To 230 Volts